I trust Edmonton Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish has been watching Matt Greene be a healthy scratch the last while in Los Angeles. Kings coach Darryl Sutter likes Greene (he has an alternate captain’s letter on his jersey and he’s a voice in the dressing room), but he’s sitting, for now. I don’t see a trade now, but he’s an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Oilers should take a serious look at getting him back.

The same due diligence could go for winger Jordan Nolan, a very tough fourth-liner who is in and out of the Kings’ lineup. Maybe they won’t deal him now, but how about at the NHL entry draft? The Kings reportedly are trying to move centre Colin Fraser to an Eastern Conference-based team.

Surprising news that Brian Rafalski, the vastly underrated Detroit Red Wings defenceman man who retired 2-1/2 years ago because he was hurt a lot and the game had become a job, has signed an ECHL deal with the Florida Everblades at age 40. He got the itch to play again after the Winter Classic. Needless to say, Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman is paying attention because the Lightning need a top-four D-man.

Now that the NHL has paid Wayne Gretzky the $8 million or so he was owed by one-time Phoenix Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes, what does he do for work? Gretzky has a standing offer to do whatever for the Oilers, but Kings GM Dean Lombardi has been trying for a couple of years to get him on board. Maybe he should use Gretzky’s good friend, Rob Blake, the Kings’ assistant GM, to talk on his behalf.

Dwayne Mandrusiuk, the Edmonton Eskimos longtime equipment manager, tells a great Gretzky story from one of his fantasy camps. “Wayne had the puck along the boards with the team he was on and sent this pass through somebody’s legs right to a guy in front of the net and he took a swipe at it and it went under his stick. Wayne skated up to the guy and told him to keep his stick on the ice, ‘Yeah, but I didn’t think you’d get it to me,’ said the fantasy camper. ‘Hey, I’m Wayne Gretzky,’ No. 99 replied.”

There was lots of angst after the Canadian world junior team didn’t get a medal. What’s wrong with our program? “We absolutely need a full-time coach with, say, a three-year contract like the Finns have, not some junior coach who introduces himself to the players at the selection camp,” said an NHL management type with a fair bit of international experience. Pay the guy $200,000 a year (Hockey Canada has lots of dough from the world junior championships) and have him do lots of scouting. Ralph Krueger would be perfect for the job, but that would be a step back for him. “He definitely belongs in the NHL,” said St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock.

If you’re keeping track, that’s four former Ottawa management types — Tim Murray (Buffalo Sabres), Ray Shero (Pittsburgh Penguins; long ago he was a player agent), Peter Chiarelli (Boston Bruins) and Jim Nill (Dallas Stars) — who are GMs after cutting their teeth with the Senators. It’s never easy becoming a first-time GM and making your initial trade. “I remember when David Poile went to Washington to be general manager, he called up the owner Abe Pollin and said he’d made a trade. He told Pollin, ‘I’ve traded Rick Green and I’ve traded Ryan Walter to Montreal. Pollin said, ‘Walter? Jeezus, he’s my favourite player,’ ” recalled Shero. There was a fair bit of silence on the other end of the phone, but Poile got Hall of Famer-to-be Rod Langway in the deal.

People at the world under-17 hockey challenge at Sydney, N.S., came away raving over USA defenceman Noah Hanifin. “He’s better than Seth Jones at the same age. He’s 16 and six-foot-four and close to 200 pounds already. I think he can be as good as that Jake Eichel (U.S. world junior team forward), but Hanifin will go third in the 2015 draft with (Canada’s Connor) McDavid and Eichel to see who’s first. Eichel skates like Taylor Hall,” said the NHL amateur scout.

Edmonton Oil Kings associate coach Steve Hamilton did a masterful job with Team Pacific’s unsung roster to get them as far as the U-17 championship game against the U.S. after losing their opening game. Surely another Western Hockey League team has noticed that Hamilton is head coach material. I wonder if it could be with the Saskatoon Blades.

By the way, the U-17 worlds are moving from late December-early January to November next season so they don’t coincide with the world junior championship, which will be held at Toronto and Montreal next Christmas.

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